dnewma04

About 7-8 years ago, I just missed on an older Woodrup that was being sold for 25.00 locally. I was unfamiliar with Woodrup at the time and as I learned what I had missed out on, a desire to own a bike from a small british make started to build. A few years later, I missed out on a lovely Raleigh Portage 650B. Not quite the Woodrup miss, but would have been pleased to get it.

Fast forward to a month ago. An A.S. Gillott bike popped up on facebook Marketplace in my old home town, where my brother currently lives. It wasn't a give away price like a 25.00 woodrup, but the deal was fair. I wasn't familiar with the Gillott story or the brand but had heard of Ron Cooper under the bikes sold under his name. I spent a few minutes considering and made an offer which was accepted and my brother was on the way within a few mins.

I ended up with a 1967 Gillott in 531 steel, with a mix of components. GB handlebars and spearpoint stem, brooks saddle, Simplex shifting, TDC Continental Headset, Takagi crankset, Lyotard pedals with Christophe clips, Balilla levers and center pull brakes, and Fiamme oval red label tubular wheels and campagnolo high flange hubs. The paint was pretty rough, the simplex shifters were clamp on style and the original owner apparently didn't notice the braze on pin under the downtube to hold the shifters in place. Consequently, they moved up and down and scrapped up pretty big portions of the paint. The rest of the paint was very dull/dirty/greasy. The front fender was mostly missing, only having the metal piece under the fork, with the rest being bent up. I'd be pleased to find a new set of white plastic fenders but for now will ride without fenders.

It all cleaned up pretty well. Working on doing some gold paint fill around the lugs and I need a chain with at least one more link in it to reach all of the gears, maybe even two. The original paint is pretty rough in spots but it’ll work for now. Brakes work pretty well after tweaking them for a bit. With these brakes you have to physically bend them into the right alignment which took me a bit to be confident I wasn’t going to snap them. I did opt for two significant changes from original, I switched from downtube shifters to bar end shifters purely based on preference and to modern aero brake levers to give me more brake leverage as center pull brakes aren’t as good as modern dual pivot brakes.

Since I changed some parts, this is how the bike sits in the after shots:

• Campagnolo Nuovo Record front and rear derailleurs.
• GB Spearpoint Stem
• GB 39cm handlebars
• TDC Continental Headset
• Diacompe bar end shifters
• Origin8 aero brake levers
• Takagi crankset
• Fiamme Red Label Tubular Wheelset (40 spoke in the rear, 32s in front) with high flange Campagnolo hubs
• Vitoria Rally 28-25 tires
• Balilla center pull brakes
• Brooks B-17 Imperial Saddle
• Brooks microfiber bar tape

The paint is still pretty rough but the polishing did wonders:

Dylansbob 

Does your have the curved seatstay bridge? There's a facebook group on AS Gillotts that are very knowledgeable.

Here's mine.


AS Gillot

Stronglight hs, Campagnolo brakes

Curved seatstay brace. 531 sticker. Silca pump

dnewma04

Very nice bike!

This is a pic I just found from my phone, I'll go snap a clearer pic in a bit, outside.

So it looks like it's not wrapped around like yours but does curve towards the center.

mpetry912 

Both super cool old bikes. I have a Gillott also, could never get it to fit properly but it's a nice bike in dark green. Would consider moving it along, 61cm

/markp

dnewma04

61cm is what my bike is, as well. Pretty decent fit for me at 6'3" but I probably could use another cm ideally. Easily within range of correct to make small adjustments. Would love to see your bike and hear some details about it.

machinist42

Photographs of the details of the frame may offer clues as to whose hands fashioned your bicycles, especially all aspects of the underside of the bottom bracket shell.

The shifter stop on the underside of the downtube is sometimes builder specific as well.

Congratulations on your acquisitions!

(61cm is a comfortable size.)

bikingshearer 

Great find. By 1967, I believe all Gillotts were built by Ron Cooper, but I am not 100% certain about that. I am certain that, by then, all Gillotts passed through Ron Cooper's hands.

I love it when an old warhorse like this finds its way into the hands of someone who will give it new life. Thanks for sharing this.

52telecaster

Beautiful bike and I think barends are a lovely addition.

machinist42

"Arthur Gillott died in 1955 aged 73. Harry sold the business to Edwardes of Camberwell in February 1963 and carried on as manager until 1966. Ron Cooper was still building Gillotts from the original shop until 1967. He left then and set up on his own in 1970. He concentrated on his own marque but some Gillotts were still ordered and built. The famous name is now owned by Mark Joynt of Omega Cycles. Any enquiries can be addressed to me via the List master.

Mark Stevens, Gillott Marque Enthusiast, Veteran Cycle Club, UK" Source.

Another resource.



It's not at all clear that all bicycles bearing the Gillott marque were built by Ron Cooper after the mid-60s. It is known some were built by others. The identity of the frame builder might be ascertained if photos of frame details are forthcoming.

dnewma04

Mark Stevens was the one that confirmed it was a Ron Cooper build and he seems to be the go to expert on the bikes.

machinist42

That he is, though others arguably more authoritative are out there, like Peter Mooney for example.

Still would appreciate seeing frame details.

Kilroy1988 

I think he was referring to the brake bridge that the caliper is mounted to as a "curved bridge." A lovely touch that is notably lacking on most quality British bikes after the frame building heyday of the 1950s.

-Gregory

dnewma04

Ah! That makes sense, I was thinking he was referring to the wrap around stays at the top of the stays. This one is just a straight tube across the stays for the brake.

juvela

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thanks so much for sharing this wonderful. find with the forum

curious if you received any history/provenance information from previous owner

for example, wonder if purchased by original owner as frameset and built up by the owner or if originally sold as a complete machine

all of the fittings shown in the as found image are period plausible save for the chainset; this appears at least five years later than machine

makes me wonder if perhaps was originally assembled with a cottered steel set which owner eventually elected to replace



in case you may be curious there is a date marking on the backside of the Takagi crank arms

a guide is here -

Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating

Takagi owned by Shimano and employed Shimano date marking system


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bulgie 

Agreed, also in agreement that this is a wonderful machine. It deserves a nicer crankset, in my unasked-for opinion (I love spending other people's money!) Honestly though, other than low snob-appeal, that crank will probably serve you just fine, as it has worked for many years. It's just not up to the level of quality of the rest of the bike.

I'm worried about that stem height; have you measured to see how much quill is down inside the steerer? I think that GB might be above its safe maximum. I think it is a pretty strong stem though, or should be; that Hiduminium alloy its made from is very strong. If I remember right, it was used on Rolls Royce aircraft engines. I've had a few Hiduminium stems and worked on many others, never saw one broken. My oldest is over 50 years old (one owner!) I never raised it that high though.



Mark B

dnewma04

No history on it. The owner bought it at auction and had no real information to give on it. I came to a similar conclusion on the cranks being the wrong time frame and I'd love to find an era appropriate set of campagnolo cranks. The original Simplex parts probably would have been fine but the front derailleur was a bit wonky, I think a little lube would have made it work fine but I had the Nuovo Record parts on the shelf. I assume my derailleurs are actually later models than the bike but I really wasn't too worried about that.

Thanks for the link with the Takagi cranks. I may have run across it at some point in my searches.

To your point, though, they will be serviceable and don't look too out of place for the time being, gives me some flexibility to find a deal on the better era correct crankset.

dnewma04

To be honest, that's just sort of set in place and not adjusted, nor is the seatpost. I'm still working on getting a new chain in that has a couple of extra links as the one I had on my shelf is shy one or two links and preventing it from shifting into the largest cog, so I haven't really set anything up too permanently yet. It's about an inch deeper than the height when I got it but to your point, it could probably go a little deeper. That's in interesting variation with the cable going through it on yours. Hadn't seen that one before.

juvela

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thanks very much for the reply

in case the original brake levers be of no planned use would be interested in trade or purchase of them assuming QR mechs in good order

have several in me spares bins but all have broken QR mechs

thank you

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bulgie 

I did that myself, but I was emulating others I'd seen. Whether they were ever "factory" drilled like that is controversial; at least one acknowledged expert says no, those were all done aftermarket by enthusiasts. I still lean toward the hypothesis that they were factory though, for the slightly weak reason that I've seen too many that were identical, right down to the same adjusting barrel being used. And it's not a barrel found on say Weinmann brakes, that an enthisiast would have in his junque pile, it's one I never saw anywhere else. Presumably some British thread too. Mine is a M5 x .8 thread and the barrel is from a Suntour V rear derailer, so it won't be confused with a factory-drilled item. I did it about 45 years ago, emulating stems from 10-15 years earlier than that.

dnewma04

I’ll check to see if the mechanism moves freely and let you know.